How Do I Know If God Is Trying to Show Me Something?
Most believers have had a moment they couldn’t quite explain. Someone comes to mind out of nowhere and won’t leave. A plan that looked fine suddenly doesn’t sit right. You catch yourself praying for a person before you know why. In moments like that it’s natural to wonder whether God was trying to tell you something or whether it was just you, and many of us end up brushing it off because we aren’t sure what to do with it.
The Bible doesn’t treat this as strange. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul writes that “the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal” (KJV), and then lists the ways the Holy Spirit shows up among believers. Three of them are often called revelation gifts because they reveal something. A word of knowledge is a piece of what God knows about a person, place, or thing, always about the past or present. A word of wisdom is God’s future plan and purpose revealed ahead of time. Discerning of spirits is being allowed to see into the spiritual realm. Paul says the Spirit gives these as He wills, so we can’t manipulate Him, but we can stay yielded and ready.
The book of Acts shows what these gifts are actually for. In Acts 9, a disciple named Ananias is told to go pray for Saul, the man who had been hunting down Christians. Ananias pushed back, so the Lord showed him the future: “he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles.” Once he saw the plan, he could obey it, and Saul received his sight and was filled with the Holy Spirit. In Acts 11, a prophet named Agabus warned of a coming drought, and the believers sent relief ahead of time. In Acts 21, Agabus tied his own hands and feet with Paul’s belt to show what was waiting in Jerusalem, so that when it happened Paul would know he was right in the middle of God’s will. Each time, the revelation helped people obey, prepare, or stay steady.
Joseph Morris shared many stories like this during his meetings with us. One night, walking to a book table, he saw a vision of a local pastor in a small plane in a nosedive. At dinner that same evening, the pastor mentioned he was flying the next day in exactly that kind of plane. Brother Joe told him what he had seen and encouraged him to check everything out without being afraid. The pastor discovered his pilot had faked his qualifications, found someone else to fly, and was fine. As Brother Joe put it, when the Holy Spirit shows you something, there’s no fear attached to it. Fear is how you can tell when the enemy is trying to mess with you.
That gives us a few simple markers. What God shows you will line up with His Word. It won’t come wrapped in panic. It will help someone, and it will point people toward Jesus. If people are having manifestations and nobody is getting saved, it’s probably not the Lord.
So how do we position ourselves to hear? Joseph Morris gave three things that help believers be more sensitive to the Lord’s leading, and none of them are mysterious. The first is thoughtfulness, being more focused on other people than on ourselves. The second is humility, thinking of ourselves less and valuing others more, while staying bold against the devil instead of against people. The third is being covenant-minded, knowing what Jesus paid for so that when something isn’t right, we can say so with confidence.
This week, start each morning by praying, “Holy Spirit, I’m open. Show me who to think about today.” When someone comes to mind, don’t brush it off. Pray for them by name, and if it stays with you, send them a text or give them a call. You may never know what it meant to them, but you’ll be practicing what it looks like to let heaven help you.
The Bible doesn’t treat this as strange. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul writes that “the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal” (KJV), and then lists the ways the Holy Spirit shows up among believers. Three of them are often called revelation gifts because they reveal something. A word of knowledge is a piece of what God knows about a person, place, or thing, always about the past or present. A word of wisdom is God’s future plan and purpose revealed ahead of time. Discerning of spirits is being allowed to see into the spiritual realm. Paul says the Spirit gives these as He wills, so we can’t manipulate Him, but we can stay yielded and ready.
The book of Acts shows what these gifts are actually for. In Acts 9, a disciple named Ananias is told to go pray for Saul, the man who had been hunting down Christians. Ananias pushed back, so the Lord showed him the future: “he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles.” Once he saw the plan, he could obey it, and Saul received his sight and was filled with the Holy Spirit. In Acts 11, a prophet named Agabus warned of a coming drought, and the believers sent relief ahead of time. In Acts 21, Agabus tied his own hands and feet with Paul’s belt to show what was waiting in Jerusalem, so that when it happened Paul would know he was right in the middle of God’s will. Each time, the revelation helped people obey, prepare, or stay steady.
Joseph Morris shared many stories like this during his meetings with us. One night, walking to a book table, he saw a vision of a local pastor in a small plane in a nosedive. At dinner that same evening, the pastor mentioned he was flying the next day in exactly that kind of plane. Brother Joe told him what he had seen and encouraged him to check everything out without being afraid. The pastor discovered his pilot had faked his qualifications, found someone else to fly, and was fine. As Brother Joe put it, when the Holy Spirit shows you something, there’s no fear attached to it. Fear is how you can tell when the enemy is trying to mess with you.
That gives us a few simple markers. What God shows you will line up with His Word. It won’t come wrapped in panic. It will help someone, and it will point people toward Jesus. If people are having manifestations and nobody is getting saved, it’s probably not the Lord.
So how do we position ourselves to hear? Joseph Morris gave three things that help believers be more sensitive to the Lord’s leading, and none of them are mysterious. The first is thoughtfulness, being more focused on other people than on ourselves. The second is humility, thinking of ourselves less and valuing others more, while staying bold against the devil instead of against people. The third is being covenant-minded, knowing what Jesus paid for so that when something isn’t right, we can say so with confidence.
This week, start each morning by praying, “Holy Spirit, I’m open. Show me who to think about today.” When someone comes to mind, don’t brush it off. Pray for them by name, and if it stays with you, send them a text or give them a call. You may never know what it meant to them, but you’ll be practicing what it looks like to let heaven help you.